Bible facing page of Herman Rupp from the files of Wes White. Unknown location.
This plate was found as a simply photocopy in Wes White's files. There are no notations indicating where he found it or from whom it might have been obtained. It is clearly the facing page of a bible that belonged to Herman Rupp, brother of Johannes Rupp, and while it does not offer anything relevant to Johannes - the focus of this article - it does seem to verify the birth date of Herman Rupp as well as verify the marriage of Herman. This may be of interest to Rupp family geneaologists. Is it possible that George Rupp and wife Ursula had such a bible prepared for each of their children? This question has been raised although unfortunately it can not currently be answered. However, if so, it woud explain the fairly confident birth dates put forth in the county histories. Nevertheless, this is definitely a piece of a Herman Rupp family bible, and not a family bible of the extended Rupp family.
Translation provided courtesy of Dr. Scott Paul Gordon, Lehigh University.
[scribe probably] Jacob Oberholtzer
This bible belongs to me, Herman Rupp.
Herman Rupp was born on 7 November in the year 1756 in Macungie Township, Northampton County, in the state of Pennsylvania, and he was brought to be baptized and he was named as above. His sponsors were Herman Mohr and his wife Susanna, and Adam Heberli and his wife Maria, and his parents were George Rupp and his wife Ursula, whose maiden name was Pettersholtz, a daughter of Johan Heinrich von Pettersholtz.
And his wife Barbara. She was born on 2 July 17[6]8 in the above mentioned township, and she was brought to be baptized and she was given the name as mentioned above. At her baptism the witnesses were Adam Smitt [Schmidt] and his wife Barbara. Her parents were Michael Biere [Biery] and his wife Eva, and her maiden name was Schmitt, the daughter of Johann Nicholas Smitt.
Herman Rupp and his Christian wife, as mentioned above, joined together in holy matrimony on the twenty first of February 1787